Folding chair.



1:". C. PIERGE.

FOLDING CHAIR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 26,1913.

1,084,898. Patented Jan. 20, 1914.

P. C. PIERCE. PQLDINGGHAIR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 26, 1913.

1,084,898, Patented Jan. 20, 1914.

N a SHEETS-SHEET 2. "N

F. C. PIERCE.

FOLDING CHAIR.

APPLIOATION FILED-Muze, 191s.

1,084,898. Patented Jan. 20, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

S14/vento@ FOREST C. PIERCE, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

FOLDING CHAIR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 20, 1 914.

Application filed May 2G, 1913. Serial No. 769,980.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, Fonns'r C. Pinnen, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Chairs; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it. appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in :folding chairs, and has particular reference to that type of furnif ture of this nature which is designed especially for the seating of an audience in theaters, auditoriums, and the like.

As its principal object, this invention contemplates the provision of folding chairs which may be arranged in pairs on the floor, and may be readily :folded and swung together, back to back, to produce a number of aisles between each pair of chairs, thus greatly facilitating the ingress or egress of an audience.

A further object is to provide folding chairs which, when arranged on the floor of a hall or theater will permit the complete utilization of all a "ailable floor space and will eliminate the necessity of providing numerous aisles, such as customarily divide the seats into blocks.

A further object is to construct the chair of this invention with such regard to proportion number and arrangement of parts that it may be cheaply manufactured, will be durable and efficient in its action, and may be quickly set up in assembled position.

rlhe above and additional objects are accomplished by such means as are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, described in thc following specification, and then more particularly pointed out in the claim which is appended hereto and forms a part of this apifilication.

lVith reference to the drawings, wherein l4 have illustrated the preferred e1nbodiment of my invention, as it is reduced to practice, and throughout the several views of which similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts Figure 1 is a front elevation of the chair in unfolded position. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3:53 of Fig. 1, Fig. z-t is a rear elevation, Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view illust rating a portion of the operating mechanism contained in the box supported by the supporting columns, Fig. G is a detail View of a supporting bracket, and Fig. 7 is a detail view of a supporting bracket.

VProceeding now to the description of the drawings, the numeral l designates the supporting column on which the folding chairs of this invention are mounted. The supe porting column is designed to be secured to the floor by bolts or other suitable fastening means, seated in the annular base plate 2 carried on the lower end of the supporting column. The column 1 supports two folding chairs, designated as entireties in Figs. 1 and ft by the letters A and B. Each chair includes a swingingly mounted back 3, a hinged seat 4L, a foldable arm 5, and a stationary arm (t.

The backs of the chairs A and B are hingedly attached by pairs of strap arms 7 and 8 to a pair of vertically arranged and rotatably mounted opcratingshafts 9 and 10, which when actuated by a mechanism t-o be hereinafter fully described, operate to swing the backs into folded position.

The seats 4c of the chairs A and B are hinged, as at 11 and 12, on the vertical legs of the supporting brackets 13, 14 and 15. The bracket 13 which is mounted on the front face of the supporting column, is, as illustrated in detail in Fig. 7 substantially U-shaped, and bolted or otherwise secured,

as at 16, to thc column 1. The supporting' brackets lit and 15 which are arranged to support the seats et at a point adjacent their rear edges, are substantially L-shaped, as illustrated in detail in Fig. G, and are secured to an iron box designated in Figs. l and 4t, as an entirety by the letter C, by bolts passing through the aperturcd lips 17 :formed terminally of the lateral arms of the b acket The box C in which the various elements of the operating mechanism to be hereinafter described, is arranged, is preferably formed integrally with the column 1, which, as will be observed by reference to Fig. 3, is formed in the nature of a cylindrical casing. Upholstered cushions of any desired type, may be fixed to the arms, backs, and seats of the chairs A and B, as illustrated in the drawings.

Since the two chairs A and B and the operating mechanism employed in folding the various elements, are similar in their detail,

it is deemed necessary to describe only one of them, the chair A being chosen in this instance.

rl`he seat 4 of the chair A is, as stated above, hinged on the brackets 13 and 14, as at 11 and 12, to permit the seat to be swung upwardly into folded position, and in order to allow the arm 5 to be swung upwardly into a vertical folded position, it has been provided with a pair of hinged supporting braces 19 and 2O bolted or otherwise secured, as at 21, to the arm. The members 19 and 20 are braced in the desired position and are held rigid in their relation to the arm 5 by means of a triangular bracing frame 22, which may be bolted, riveted, or otherwise secured to the arm 5 and members 19 and 20, as will be observed by reference to Fig. 2.

The lower terminals of the braces 19 and 20 are bent to produce odset stubs 23 which are pivotally connected, as at 24, to link rods 25 and 26, which are respectively pivoted at their inner terminal on the pivot pins 12 and 11. A pair of laterally extending braces 27 and 23 are suitably secured to the under face of the seat 4 and are respectively secured by pivot pins 29 to the members 19 and 20.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that if the seat 4 is swung upwardly on its pivotal points 11 and 12 into a vertical position, the members 19 and 20 will be swung on their pivot points 29 into a vertical position, and in alinement with the horizontal axis of the member 4 by reason of the action of the link 25.

It will also be apparent that before the seat 4 can be swung upwardly in vertical forward position, it is necessary that the back 3 be swung on the member 9 into a position of parallel relation to the arm 6. As

' a means therefore for automatically and simultaneously swinging the member 3 into the desired position upon the upward movement of the seat 4, this invention employs a mechanism arranged for the most part in the box C, as will be next described.

Reference now being had particularly to Figs. 3 and 5, it will be observed that the lower terminal of the rod 9 which extends interiorly of the box C, is journaled at its lower terminal in a suitable bearing 30 arranged therein, and is bent immediately above its journaled terminal to produce a substantially U-shaped elbow 31,which when the back 3 is in open position, extends at an approximate angle of 45O to the rear wall 32 of the box C. The substantially triangular plate 33 is pivotally connected by pins 34 to the lower arm of the U-shaped elbow 31, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 5, and is provided with a hook-shaped slot 36 arranged to permit the plate 33 to be swung about the fixed pin 37 mounted on the bottom of the box C. The slot 36, as above stated, is substantially hook-shaped, the portion of the slot designated by the numeral 38 corresponding to the bill of the hook, and the portion designated by the numeral 39 cor-V responding to the shank of the hook. A substantially rectangular link plate 40 is pivoted at the upper right hand corner, as at 41, to the side wall of the box C, and is connected to the plate 33 by a pair of pivotally connected links -42 and 43, the member 43 being pivoted to the plate 33, as at 44, and the member 42 being pivoted, as at 45, to the plate 40, at the lower right hand corner thereof.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that if the plate 40 is swung on its pivot in a counter-clockwise direction, the swinging movement of the plate will be communicated by the links 42 and 43 to the .plate 33, which will swing the elbow 31 of the member 9 through an are of 90 degrees. By reference to Fig. 5, it will be observed that the plate 33 is designed to swing the elbow through an approximate angle of 90. Referring now to Fig. 1, it will be observed that when the elbow 31 is rotated 9()O the rod 9 and consequently the back 3, will be swung through an arc of 90. lt will be apparent that when the back 3 has been swung in this manner it will be disposed adjacent the arm 6 and approximately parallel thereto, thus permitting the seat 4 to be swung upwardly on its pivot 12.

As a means for effecting the above described movement of the plate 40 upon the lifting of the seat 4, there have been provided a pair of connecting rods 46 and 47.

The rod 46 is disposed in vertical alinement with the column 1 and is guided in its move* ment by a collar 48 carried by the member 1. rlhe upper terminal of the rod 46 extends into the box C and is bent at its upper terminal to produce an L-shaped conformation,

as at 49, the extreme terminal of the L-shaped portion 49 beino pivotally connected, as at 50, to the upper left hand corner of the plate 40. The rod 47 is pivotally connected at its upper terminal, as at 51, to the inner edge of the seat 4 and is bent to produce a lateral arm 52, which is pivotally connected, as at 53, to the rod 46, at a point approximately midway between the bottom of the box C downwardly with the resultant downward movement of the rod 46. As the rod 46 moves downwardly the plate 40 is swung ou its pivot Li1 and the plate 33 is consequently actuated to swing the elbow 81. In this connection it will be observed that as the plate 33 is actuated by the movement of the links 4t2 and 43, the plate 33 will first move forwardly in an approximate straight line until the pin 37 rests in the slot at the juncture of the portions 3S and 39 of the slot above described. The plate then turns until the pin 3T rests in the terminal of the portion 39 of the slot, in which position the elbow 31 will be disposed in the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 5. Simuls taneously with the rotation of the rod 9 and the back 3, the upward movement of the seat l will tend to swing the supports 19 and of the arm 5 into vertical alinement with the links and 26.

By reference to Fig. 1, it will be observed that when in folded position the back 3 of the chair will be arranged in parallel relation to the arm (l, the seat 4 will be disposed in a vertical plane with its inner edge in the space formed between the vertical leg of the supporting brackets 13 and lll and the supporting column, and the members 19 and 20 of the arm 5 and links 25 and 2G will also be in vertical position.

In reduction to practice, I have found that the form of my invention illustrated in the drawings and referred to in the above description as the preferred embodiment, is the most efficient and practical; yet realizing that the conditions concurrent with the adoption of my device will necessarily vary, I desire to emphasize the fact that various minor changes in details of construction, proportions, and arrangement of parts may be resorted to when required, without sacri- [icing any of the advantages of my invention. as defined in the appended claim.

I-Iaving thus described my invention, what I claim is A duplex folding chair includirnga central supporting column, a pair of swlngingly mounted backs, a pair of hinged seats, a pair of foldable arms for said seats, means operatively connecting said chair backs and said chair seats for moving the said chair backs into folded position simultaneously with the movement of the said chair seats into folded posit-ion, said means including a pair of rotatably mounted supporting rods attached to said chair backs, a pair of vertically disposed operating rods, said oper ating rods being mounted for movement in a vertical plane, means operatively connecting said operating rods and supporting rods for rotating said supporting rods upon the vertical movement of said operating rods, and a pair of connecting rods pivoted at their lower terminals to the said operating rods and at their upper terminals to said chair seats.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FOREST C. PIERCE.

W'itnesses Hnimnrn S. MACY, Guo. Summers.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D; C." 

